Rachel M on Jim DeMoron's excellent trip: "Is it maybe a word that starts with T and rhymes with reason?"

Steve Clemons of the Washington Note blog was Rachel's guest Thursday night, talking about Senator DeMoron's then-planned Trip of Treason (my term, not Steve's or Rachel's).

by Ken

THE HILL'S BLOG BRIEFING ROOM

DeMint encouraged by Honduras trip
By Eric Zimmermann - 10/03/09 11:06 AM ET

The Honduran government is upholding the rule of law and supporting democracy, Sen. Jim DeMint (R-S.C.) said after returning from a fact-finding trip to the country.

DeMint led a delegation including Reps. Aaron Schock (R-Ill.), Peter Roskam (R-Ill.), and Doug Lamborn (R-Colo.) The lawmakers met with Honduran President Roberto Micheletti, Supreme Court justices, and candidates in upcoming November 29 elections.

"[W]e saw a government working hard to follow the rule of law, uphold its constitution, and to protect democracy for the people of Honduras," DeMint said. "We are very encouraged by what we saw and we hope to be able to work with our administration to support the upcoming elections."

DeMint added that he'd have more to say after he briefed his Senate colleagues. . . .

So Senator DeMoron, the pride of South Carolina (well, who then? Sen. Lindsey "I'm Dumber and Dishonester Than My Pal Holy Joe Lieberman" Graham? Gov. Mark "Hiking the Appalachian Trail to Argentina" Sanford? the gaggle of GOP geese angling to fill the shoes of the ex-governor-to-be?) has made his euphemistically described "fact-finding" trip to Honduras. This is a man who has spent his entire political life running at breakneck speed from any possible encounter with facts -- the next fact he meets head-on will be his first. But I wouldn't worry too much about that. To be a Republican and a dead-right-winger in 2009 means having developed utter imperviousness to the penetration of anything resembling a fact.

Of course we all know Senator DeMoron's purpose in going, as he was making clear before he discovered that it might be a tad impolitic to say so, was to give aid and comfort to the military junta there, recognized neither by the United States nor Honduras's neighbors, to encourage them to stand firm against any impulse even to compromise, let alone give in. Hey, was he supposed to stand idly by while there were fascists or authoritarians to rally behind?

There was some minor embarrassment for the senator when somebody broke the news to him that his Honduran heroes had suspended civil liberties, though again it probably had to be explained to him that suspending civil liberties is considered a public-relations gaffe in some American circles. After all, suspending civil liberties has become one of the major goals of Republican governance -- and was regarded by DeMoron and his colleagues as one of the great achievements of the Bush regime. It probably also had to be explained to him why his junta hosts were prattling on about aspiring to follow the rule of law and hoping to restore democracy, since again Republican administrations in the U.S. over the last 30 years have worked so hard to eliminate both.

My one question would be a request for confirmation that Senator DeMoron made his statement from his jail cell, presumably adjoining those of Representatives Schock, Roskam, and Lamborn, waiting for their arraignments on charges of treason and whatever other crimes apply. Presumably Senate Minority Leader Miss Mitch McConnell is in a cell nearby as a coconspirator.

You'll recall that Sen. John Kerry, chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, was left looking kind of foolish because he managed to deny transport for DeMoron's Trip of Treason -- what else could we call it when a U.S. senator takes his defiance of U.S. foreign policy so far as to collude with an illegitimate foreign government? -- only to be end-run by the wily DeMoron, who went to Miss Mitch, who arranged transport through the Pentagon. (I assume the Defense Dept. employees who facilitated the deal have been fired, pending the filing of charges against them too.)

IT'S TIME TO PLAY . . . IF THE SHOE
WERE ON THE OTHER FOOT

Really, we don't have to delve deeply into the ins and outs or rights and wrongs of our policy toward the Honduran junta. All we have to do is play another round of that favorite parlor game, If the Political Shoe Were on the Other Foot.

I realize this is tiresome, but it becomes all the more necessary as long as the extremist-tamed infotainment-news media remain engulfed in oblivion with regard to the "principles" and operating methods of the Just Say No Republican Party. So it's left to us to imagine the scenario, if a Democrat had engaged in such behavior during a Republican administration. We know we would have the Right-Wing Noise Machine in full bloodthirsty screech mode, not to be quieted without some blood sacrifices.

As we know, any action on behalf of decency and honor is persecuted by the Rabid Right to the fullest extent of their subversive powers. They themselves, however, are never held to account, never asked to pay a price for their lies, subversions, and outright crimes. I don't know about you, but I'm looking forward to Senator DeMoron's treason trial. I assume prosecutors will be seeking the death penalty.


UPDATE: Ken Isn't The Only One Noticing That DeMint Is A Screwball

Over the weekend Thaddeus McCotter (R-MI), the fourth ranking Republican House leader, chair of the Republican Policy Committee, told a conference of party leaders and activists that DeMint is "nuts" (his word). The audience laughed and applauded, Watch:

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